Muffler with flashing and spark



B. C. FOLTS Jan. 24, 1956 MUFFLER WITH FLASHING AND SPARK EILIMINATINGMEANS Filed Aug. 6, 1952 INVENTOR. 501?? 6 FZL r;

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a'rfamwF/s United States Patent MUFFLER WITH FLASHING AND SPARKELIMINATING MEANS Burr C. Folts, Herkimer, N. Y. Application August 6,1952, Serial No. 302,946

2 Claims. (Cl. 18157) This invention relates to a muffler for internalcombustion engines and has particular reference to a muffler which isconstructed and arranged to attenuate the sound waves and to eliminateflashing of the exhaust gases and the discharge of sparks.

Since exhaust gases from internal combustion engines are discharged athigh pressure and high velocity, high pressure pulses are produced whichresult in peaks in the sound waves unless the sound waves areattenuated. Furthermore, the exhaust gases include unconsumed gases ofcombustion which frequently ignite producing a flashing and an explosivesound and the discharge of sparks.

An object of the present invention is to provide a muffler whichattenuates the peaks of the sound waves so as to dampen the explosivesounds and which prevents the flashing through the mufller of unconsumedgases as well as eliminating the discharge of sparks.

Another object of the invention is to provide a muffler having spacedexpansion chambers formed with perforated walls for directing the flowof the exhaust gases in the form of streams into attenuating chambersand having a chamber located adjacent the outlet thereof which isseparated from a surrounding attenuating chamber by an inner wall and anoverlying screen providing a flashing and spark eliminating means.

Another object of the invention is to provide a mufiler of saidcharacter having an outlet chamber adjacent the outlet opening which isclosed at the inner end and provided with a foraminous peripheral walland an overlying screen which separates the outlet chamber from asurrounding chamber.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, reference is now made tothe following specification and accompanying drawings in which theprevailing embodiment of the invention is illustrated.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a longitudinal sectional view of a muffler constructed inaccordance with the invention.

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken approximately on line 2-2 of Fig.1.

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken approximately on line 3-3 of Fig.2.

Referring to the drawings by characters of reference, the mufflerincludes a tubular shell 11 which is closed at its ends by heads 12 and13. The head 12 has a tubular extension 14 forming an inlet 15 andproviding means for connecting the mufiler with the exhaust manifold ofan internal combustion engine, and the head 13 has a tubular extension16 forming a discharge outlet 17.

The mufller is provided with means for attenuating the sound wavesproduced by the exhaust gases admitted through the inlet 15 and withmeans for preventing the flashing of unconsumed gases through the outlet17 as well as arresting sparks within the mutfler and preventing thedischarge thereof. For this purpose, the muffler is provided withpartitioning walls 18, 19, and which are secured to the inner face ofthe shell in longitudinally spaced relation. The walls 18 and 19 arecentrally apertured and secured thereto about the apertures therein isan apertured shell 21 disposed in alignment with the inlet 15. The wall18 being spaced from the head 12 provides an expansion chamber 22adjacent the inlet 15 and the walls 19 and 20 provide an expansionchamber 23 at the outlet of the apertured shell 21. The shell 21 isprovided with a plurality of longitudinally and radially arranged rowsof inwardly offset louvers 25 having forwardly disposed openings 26 fordirecting a portion of the exhaust gases flowing through the shell 21into the surrounding chamber 27 in the form of streams or whirls tothereby produce a turbulence 0f the gases in the surrounding chamber 27and attenuate the peaks of the sound waves.

The wall 19 is formed with concentric rows of outwardly directed louvers29 providing inwardly directed openings 30 through which the exhaustgases are discharged from the chamber 27 into the expansion chamber 23.The exhaust gases admitted through the inlet 15 expand in the chambers22 and 23 with a consequent reduction in the velocity of the flow so asto diminish the peaks of the sound waves while the turbulence in thegases produced in the chamber 27 and in the chamber 23 by thearrangement of the louvers 25 and 29 effects a further attenuation ofthe peaks of the sound waves.

Adjacent the outlet 17, the mufller is provided with an outlet chamber32 disposed in alignment with the outlet 17 and which is closed at itsinner end by the partition wall 20. Secured in fixed position betweenthe partition wall 20 and the head 13 is a foraminous shell 33 in whichthe openings 34 are spaced apart substantially a distance correspondingto the cross-sectional dimension of the openings. The said shell formsthe peripheral wall of the chamber 32 and separates the same from asurrounding chamber 35 located between the partition wall 20 and thehead 13. Overlying the foraminous shell 33 is a fine mesh screen 36which is in contact with the outer periphery thereof and overlies theopenings 34 as well as the intervening portions thereof.

The partition wall 20 is formed with concentric rows of openings 37 forthe flow of exhaust gases from the chamber 23 into the chamber 35surrounding the outlet chamber 32. The partition wall 20 thus functionsto eliminate practically all possibility of ignition of unconsumed gasesin the chamber 35 and the foraminous shell 33 and overlying screen 36function to eliminate flashing of the gases in the outlet chamber 32 andthe discharge of sparks therethrough. While finely divided glowingcarbon particles frequently pass with the exhaust gases into theinuflfler, such particles will be arrested in the chamber 35 by means ofthe peripheral wall 33 and screen 36. The screen 36 is of suflicientlyfine mesh to prevent the discharge of ordinary size carbon particlesfrom falling therethrough and retains the same in the chamber 35. A 40mesh screen has been found to be satisfactory but the same is notlimited to such mesh screen. The screen is of corrosive-proof materialwhich will withstand the corrosive action of fumes and gases in theexhaust gases and given off by the carbon particles.

In order to clean out the chamber 35 and to remove the deposit of carbonparticles, the head 13 is made up of a removable section 38 and a fixedsection 39 having a peripheral flange 40 secured to the inner face ofthe tubular shell 11. The removable section 38 has the tubular extension16 formed as an integral part thereof and this section is removablysecured to the fixed section 39 by means of a plurality of radiallyarranged bolts 41 extending through aligned openings in the saidsections. The section 38 may be readily removed by removing the bolts 41so as to gain access to the chamber 32 within the peripheral wall 33 aswell as the chamber 35.

The partition wall 20 is formed with an offset central portion providingan annular shoulder 43 and the removable section, 33 ofthe end wall 13is formed with an offset central portion forming an annular shoulder 44.The shoulders 43 and 44 extend toward each other and the foraminousshell 33 and screen 36 fittingly engage about said shoulders at theirends for securing the same in fixed position between the partition wall20 and end wall 13.

What is claimed is:

,1. In a mufiier, a metal casing having inner and outer end wallsprovided with inlet and outlet openings respectively, a partition, walldisposed intermediate said end walls, a foraminous tubular wall securedin fixed position between said partition Wall and said outer end wallwith the outer end of said tubular wall surrounding the outlet openingto thereby provide an outlet chamber in communication with the outletopening and a chamber surrounding said tubular wall and located betweenthe same and said casing, said partition wall closing the inner end ofsaid outlet chamber and having apertures opening into said surroundingchamber for the flow of exhaust gases into said surrounding chamber andthrough said tubular wall into the outlet chamber, and a wire screensurrounding and closely fitting said tubular wall for arresting sparkspassing with the exhaust gases and for preventing flashing of unconsumedgases in the outlet chamber.

2. In a mufiler, a metal casing having inner and outer end wallsprovided with inlet and outlet openings respectively, a partition wallsecured to said casing intermediate said end walls, a roramineustubularwall secured in fixed position between said partition wall and saidouter end wall with the outer end of said tubular wall surrounding saidoutlet opening to thereby provide an outlet chamber in communicationwith the outlet opening and a chamber surrounding said tubular wall andlocated between the same and said casing, said partition Wall closingthe inner end of said outlet chamber, a wire screen surrounding andclosely fitting said tubular wall for arresting sparks passing with theexhaust gases, and said outer end wall including; a section fixed tosaid casing and a section removably secured to said fixed section forcleaning out particles deposited in said surrounding chamber when theremovable section is removed.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS227,341 Zellner May 4, 1880 1,376,957 MacKenzie May 3, 1921 1,838,645Voigt Dec. 29, 1931 2,083,840 Haas June 15, 1937 2,185,584 Boyce Ian. 2,1940 2,213,614 Scarritt Sept. 3, 1940 2,233,804 Bourne Mar. 4, 19412,583,366 Engels Jan. 22, 1952

